LaTache
Member
My DS has gone radio silent since Production Complete, is there a Chicago issue? Hmm, going onto day three with no word on expected delivery of any kind.....
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First P85D adopters stuck in black hole
- Thread starter gpetti
- Start date
My DS has gone radio silent since Production Complete, is there a Chicago issue? Hmm, going onto day three with no word on expected delivery of any kind.....
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
When I took delivery of my P85 ages ago, I remember having the delivery specialist write out my due bill items - - floor mats and rear spoiler, both in short supply at the time - on that form before I signed at delivery.
It was no big deal and they came through with them later. In fact, I haven't heard of any cases where they didn't.
Hilarious, this morning I was singing that song to myself and then realized why (before I read your post). I kind of wish I had left my car on my dashboard in order to see if I would have won the prize for longest "black holer" (terrible term). On the other hand I wanted to get the hell back in the queue so I have a chance of getting a car next quarter! @sandpiper, my VIN was 63011, one before yours. A couple of the earlier ones - not that the VIN numbers seem to mean much.
I'm sucking down my jealousy and rooting for you remaining guys!
If I had to rename this - it seems less like a black hole and more like some kind of wrinkle in the space time continuum. These cars seemed to take on their own timeline like slow motion independent of any normal timelines or build processes.
Besides communication, if I had to pick another area of annoyance, it would be consistency. The differences between DS personnel and regions, the differences in early cars and later cars, the difference in policy - people with time concerns that ordered early and may not get their cars in time, people who ordered late and got their cars early, Some DSs seem to be kept in the dark, others seem able to move mountains. Some DSs seemed to get information from the factory others were stuck looking at computer screens that didn't move. I feel sorry for Jerome as a VP that is handling end customer complaints but it seems to suggest a lack of empowerment with DSs and Ownership. Jerome seems to be able to get information where some of the DSs can't. I imagine (and hope) that there will be some retrospective discussions when this quarter is complete - some real improvement opportunities.
I couldn't agree more with this. Form my experience with both the cars I've ordered, the entire Tesla experience prior to delivery has been dreadful. But because the product is so amazing, once people take delivery they probably just forgive (and somewhat forget) about their poor experiences prior to getting the car. I know I kind of did. And I think they're counting on that. Since Tesla can't meet demand as is, they're likely investing more time, money and resources in making more cars faster, rather than spending any resources on improving their training programs for their DS/OAs. It's obvious there's just no consistency anywhere in the purchasing/pre-delivery experience. They either hired people who are just plain bad at their jobs, or they did a very lousy job training them. I would guess it's more the latter. They need to get everyone some sort of script for commonly asked questions (and scripted answers for anticipated questions when issues arrives like this black hole debacle), get everyone on the same page, and just improve their communication processes overall.
Now that my production is complete, I'm still pretty stoked, but my enthusiasm has certainly been dampened somewhat by this experience. Especially since i'm only getting NG seats in front (minor annoyance I guess) and I'm likely not getting a heated steering wheel which some other folks already have (silly gripe in the Bay Area I know, but shouldn't I have the latest and greatest version of the car upon taking delivery? Just doesn't seem right that I will miss out on that feature after waiting 26 days for the thing to be built).
breser
AutoPilot Nostradamus
In my experience it's neither. They simply haven't hired enough people. If you pay attention the people that have poor experiences with delivery are people in areas where there are a lot of vehicles delivered. I never see people complaining about the lack of returned calls or emails in regions that sell very few cars. You will sometimes see people saying they're getting great experiences in areas that have a lot of cars but it's always during the off-time of the quarter. I saw this literally myself with the trade I just did. Very responsive to me in November, then December hit and emails go unanswered.
The problem Tesla has right now is the clustering of deliveries to regions. They have a short period of time with a lot of deliveries (basically 1 month of the quarter) then the rest of the quarter it's fairly quiet. If they hire more people then they have people twiddling their thumbs for 2 months. I don't really see this changing until Tesla is no longer production limited and is instead demand limited. Once they're demand limited they'll be building cars as they get orders instead of trying to batch them. But I suspect that's at least a few years away.
Given that they are production limited, even if they lose some sales due to this sort of situation, it doesn't really impact their actual sales numbers because that's purely based on production.
The caveat I'll give to the above is that the P85D delays probably stressed a lot of delivery employees in areas that typically have fewer cars. Lots of people calling wondering why their car is still not moving.
This time frame is only an estimate and is subject to change based on current production schedules and option availability. Please expect that this timing will shift to provide the most accurate estimate possible. Your delivery appointment will be confirmed by your Delivery Experience Specialist once your vehicle is fully assembled and en route to the nearest Tesla location for final inspection and preparation.
So yeah. There we have it.
After being the first Torontonian on our spreadsheet to go into production and currently at 26 days in production and counting, I get the above message this am (came up between 1am-7am).
I'll admit I am disappointed but hopefully it'll be here in the first few days of Jan.
So yeah. There we have it.
After being the first Torontonian on our spreadsheet to go into production and currently at 26 days in production and counting, I get the above message this am (came up between 1am-7am).
I'll admit I am disappointed but hopefully it'll be here in the first few days of Jan.
Seems like this text is out there for everyone waiting for a car. I got it today as well, and my delivery is expected in late february.
Actually seems like Tesla is taking the feedback and clarifying that the info on mytesla here is not 100% accurate.
The same message showed up on my Dashboard last night too.
Then this morning I got an email from my DS saying my P85D was now on its way to Houston (I assume on a truck but she wasn't that specific). I am now scheduled to take delivery 12/24.
So, I don't think the message means that you will not get your car before the end of the year - it's just a CYA in case some don't make it before the end of the year.
Mike
breser has it nailed down.
My DS was the model of consistency getting back to me within 12-24 hours either by phone or email until 2 days ago.
She had been complaining that she needed help and then was elated when they let her hire 2 assistants.
However, now that I really need her to tell me where my car is, and when they will finalize my trade in number to allow my loan to go through.....she is MIA.
I can reach her assistants, both very nice but clueless as one would expect from folks who have been on the job for one week.
Have tried to contact the Delivery team in Freemont to no avail. It one of those things that can be easily resolved ......but super annoying in the meantime.
My DS was the model of consistency getting back to me within 12-24 hours either by phone or email until 2 days ago.
She had been complaining that she needed help and then was elated when they let her hire 2 assistants.
However, now that I really need her to tell me where my car is, and when they will finalize my trade in number to allow my loan to go through.....she is MIA.
I can reach her assistants, both very nice but clueless as one would expect from folks who have been on the job for one week.
Have tried to contact the Delivery team in Freemont to no avail. It one of those things that can be easily resolved ......but super annoying in the meantime.
I've had a pretty terrible experience with DS from when I first started hearing from him when production started.
My DS told me that he does all deliveries for both West Palm Beach and Dania Beach. That means Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach as well as nearby regions like the keys are all his responsibility. I've heard that this is one of the top 5 markets in the USA now, and it's stunning that they can't have at least one DS per service center.
He he is clearly overworked.
My DS told me that he does all deliveries for both West Palm Beach and Dania Beach. That means Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach as well as nearby regions like the keys are all his responsibility. I've heard that this is one of the top 5 markets in the USA now, and it's stunning that they can't have at least one DS per service center.
He he is clearly overworked.
Hi,
When I talk about consistency I mean from one DS to another. I agree that they are hugely overworked and that is a big part of why some areas respond better than others;however, I noticed that some DS seemed to have more power than others - maybe contacts, maybe more savvy. There are some stories of DSs having someone in the factory find a car and report back. If you look at the varying stories coming back from DSs there wasn't any one consistent story. I guess I hinted at another problem in my earlier post and that is empowerment. I get the impression that most of the DSs are kept in the dark, possibly to avoid them giving away too much information. Maybe that strategy is OK in normal operations but in this scenario it created more trouble than it solved (IMHO). When my car went back into production, I naturally was concerned and phoned my DS who had a chuckle because it was ridiculous that my car would have gone back into production. He looked at two systems that showed "factory gate routing" and basically that my car was about to be loaded on a truck - thus he reassured me that all was well. It wasn't until about a day later that his boss called him and let him know that there was a problem with a bunch of cars. He never did get any information specific to my car.
Why dont you contact Finance directly - they will help you with the loan part and also loop in the DS as well to tie out the other loose ends. With that at least you arent single threaded in your abilities to understand whats up
Well, today's update:
Spoke to Tesla corporate. They agree that the paperwork is incorrect regarding the seats. They want it handwritten at the time of delivery. Not thrilled about that, considering I need to sign the paperwork in advance for my credit union, but I have to take them at their word that this will be fixed at delivery (which I think it obviously will.) Just a dumb thing for them to do PR-wise. Let's piss off the customer by making him jump through these hoops, then have him sign paperwork saying that he is being charged for what he isn't getting, then crossing it out and fixing it. Really???
Now, that nonsense aside, I was told by my DS this morning when I called him, that my car, "and many other cars for the Southeast US", (his quote) are sitting in limbo in the factory, and have not been shipped. So my new delayed delivery appointment is in great jeopardy, as is my auto loan as EFCU needs the paperwork done before Dec 23rd at the VERY latest, and it is totally unclear if I'll know by then if I am getting the car in 2014.
So, the decaying orbit around Black Hole Part Deux continues...
Spoke to Tesla corporate. They agree that the paperwork is incorrect regarding the seats. They want it handwritten at the time of delivery. Not thrilled about that, considering I need to sign the paperwork in advance for my credit union, but I have to take them at their word that this will be fixed at delivery (which I think it obviously will.) Just a dumb thing for them to do PR-wise. Let's piss off the customer by making him jump through these hoops, then have him sign paperwork saying that he is being charged for what he isn't getting, then crossing it out and fixing it. Really???
Now, that nonsense aside, I was told by my DS this morning when I called him, that my car, "and many other cars for the Southeast US", (his quote) are sitting in limbo in the factory, and have not been shipped. So my new delayed delivery appointment is in great jeopardy, as is my auto loan as EFCU needs the paperwork done before Dec 23rd at the VERY latest, and it is totally unclear if I'll know by then if I am getting the car in 2014.
So, the decaying orbit around Black Hole Part Deux continues...
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Yes.
If you scroll through the tracking thread, you'll see screenshots that include the exact wording.
Mike, I think you are spot on. This is not a complaint and my car will be delivered on time I am sure. However, it has been done and waiting for a transport for 3 days. Just confirming your suspicion.
I would agree this is certainly part of the problem as well. I probably should have worded my little rant better but I think what I said (regarding training/everyone having a consistent script) and not having enough bodies is not mutually exclusive. Lack of enough folks doesn't totally explain the lack of consistency in overall communication between each DS and their respective customers. (gpetti does a good job explaining this above so I won't rehash that).
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